Air

International aviation: Algeria

On 9 December 2008, the Council of the European Union adopted a Decision authorising the European Commission to open negotiations with Algeria on a Euro-Mediterranean Aviation Agreement, as a part of the process of creating a wider Common Aviation Area with its eastern and southern neighbours. The negotiations with Algeria have not started yet.

In 2010, almost 3.6 million passengers have been carried between the Member States of the European Union and Algeria, 2.8 million of which were accounted for by the Franco-Algerian market alone (the other main aviation markets in Europe are Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom). Beyond the geographical proximity, such significant levels of trade are due to historical, cultural and even family ties which give to air links a key role.

The implementation of a Euro-Mediterranean aviation area with Algeria should result in an increased number of direct flights between the two shores of the Mediterranean supporting the development of trade and tourist flows. Based on the precedents of Morocco and the single European market, an increase in traffic of about 15-20% per year is envisaged for the first few years following the implementation of the agreement: in terms of volume, this would be an increase of about 500 000 passengers. These forecasts, which assume that existing macroeconomic conditions and policies will continue, will undoubtedly need to be revised upwards in view of the very strong potential for growth of the Algerian market.